Heat exchanger



Dec. 28V, 1943. T VASSlLlOU 2,338,016

v HEAT EXCHANGER Filed Nov. 27, 1941 v 2 Sheets-Sheet l ZU Z/ Siloam/1 Dec. l28, 1943. T. vAsslLloU l 2,338,016

' HEAT EXCHANGER Filed Nov. 27, 1941 2 ySheecs-Shee'c 2 J. v l //6 Patented Dee. 2s, 1943 unimo srares EN? @HCE 5 Claims.

This invention relates to air heaters.

An object of this invention is to provide a heater embodying a plurality of air ducts which are adapted to be immersed in a heating medium, such as hot water or steam, and a blower for forcing the air through the ducts.

Another object of this invention is to provide a heater of this type which has the air ducts thereof secured to a head so that the ducts may be removed as a unit for replacement or repair of the ducts.

A further object of this invention is to provide a device of this kind which can be used either as a heater or a cooler to thereby provide either heated or cooled air.

A further object of this invention is to provide in a device of this kind improved intake and outlet manifolds which are connected to and support the air ducts within the boiler.

Av further object of this invention is to pro- 'i vide ina device of this kind an improved protecting means about the air ducts, so that when the device is used as a cooler ice may be placed in the boiler and the ice held from direct contact with the air ducts, the latter being immersed in either cold Water or a cooling brine.

A further object of this invention is to provide a heating unit of simple construction, so that ii desired, it may be placed directly within the room to be heated.

To the foregoing objects and others which may hereinafter appear, the inventionv consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement o-f parts as will be more specically referred to and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications may be resorted to which fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view partly broken away of the heater with certain parts thereof removed,

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings the numeral lil designates generally a boiler structure or water heater comprising an inner shell Il, an outer shell or jacket l2 and an insulating wall I3 disposed between the inner and outer shells or jackets l l and l2. The boiler I0 is provided with a bottom wall I4, and thebottorn wall I4 has secured thereto a flared annular base member I5 formed with an outer annular. flange. I6 encompassing 1 the outerjacket IZ. A burner or heating means ll in the forni of a gas burner is disposed in the chamber it, formed below the bottom wall it and the burner il, and is adapted to be connected by means of a pipe it to a suitable source of fuel supply.

A head or top wall il is disposed on the upper end of the boiler Eil, the head 2@ being formed as a flat disk, and the outer portions of the head 2b are adapted to be secured by fastening devices 2l to an outwardly extending annular flange 22 which is formed integral with the inner boiler or container il. A water gauge 23 is secured to the boiler it below the head 20 and is provided with upper and lower nttings 2li and 25 which extend through the jacket i2 and the inner container li. A safety valve 26 is connected to the boiler it adjacent the upper portion thereof, so as -to relieve any pressure formed by steam or the like in the upper portion of the boiler. Preferably the safety valve 2t is of such a construction as to relieve the boiler it from a very low steam or other fluid pressure which may accumulate above the Water line 2l.

In order to provide a means whereby the water in the boiler d may heat air, I have provided an air heating unit which is fixed relative to the head 2@ and forms a part of the head Eil, so that the air heating unit to be hereinafter described may be furnished as a new article of manufacture for a water heater or cooler, and inserted within the heater or cooler for providing the proper heat exchange to either heat or cool the air passing through the unit. The heating unit as shown in Figure l comprises a plurality of depending funnel-shaped air intake members S which are provided with cylindrical upper end portions E9 positioned in annularly arranged openings 3B formed in the head 2t at one side of the axial center of the head.

The intake members 2t are adapted te be welded as at 3i to the head 2t, and each intake member 2t is provided at its lower end with a flared nipple end lowermost, and one end of an air duct or pipe 33 is adapted to be tightly engaged within the nipple 32. Preferably the air duct 3i? is split as at 3d, so that the end of the duct 33 may be pushed into the nipple 32 and frictionally heldv therein. This construction permits the ready insertion and reino-val of the air duct relative to the intake member 2d, so that if it is necessary to replace one or more of the air ducts, the air duct may be pulled out from the nipple 32,

andv a new duct quickly inserted therein. Thev The nipple t? has its larger air ducts 32 are of like construction and are U-shaped as shown in Figure l, the intake leg 35 of each air duct being disposed in a vertical position, and the bight 36 of each air duct being of longitudinally arcuate configuration and terminating in a vertical outlet duct 3l.

The outlet duct il is connected at its upper end to an outlet funnel-shaped member 33 which is similar to the intake member 28, and is secured in any suitable manner within an opening 39 formed in the head 2i) diametrically opposite from the series of intake members 28. The construction of the outlet members 33 is similar in every detail to the construction of the intake members 28 sho-wn more specically in Figure 3, the upper outlet end of each air duct 33 being frictionally held within the lower oppositely ilared end lil of each outlet member 3S.

An upstanding intake nipple 4l is secured to the upper side of the head 2i! and encompasses f the upper open ends of the intake members 2S. A pipe i2 is adapted to telescope over the nipple lll, and a fan is mounted within the pipe 42 being operated by a fan motor lil supported by brackets within the interior of the pipe 42. Ihe ran i3 is adapted to force air downwardly through the intake nipple 4I, and by reason of the funnel-shaped intake members Eil, the air in the nipple :ii will be compressed, land will be forced downwardly through the air ducts 33. The air ducts 33, being substantially entirely immersed in the hot water within the boiler l0, will become heated thereby, so that the air passing through the air ducts 33 will be heated and will be discharged from the outlet members 3b into an outlet nipple dil.

An outlet air conducting pipe il has one end thereof telescoping over the outlet nipple liti, and the pipe il may be continued to any desired point where the heat is desired. The outlet nipple l5 is adapted to be secured as by welding or other suitable fastening means to the upper side of the head hl, and the nipple it encloses or encompasses the open upper ends of the outlet members In order to provide a means whereby the air ducts 53 may be suitably protected against damage during the shipment of the heating unit, comprised ci ducts and the head. 2@ when this unit is disconnected :from the boiler l I have provided a perforate protecting shield which eneloses the group of air ducts and extends downwardly into the interior of the boiler ld. The shield is provided with an outwardly eX- tending annular iiange lil at its upper end, which is secured to an annular ring il interposed between the head and the ange 22.

The shield provides a means whereby in the event ice or other cooling medium is inserted within the boiler ld, the ice will be out of direct contact with the air ducts 33, so that the ice cannot injure the air ducts, whereas the cold water derived from the ice may freely pass through the shield il@ for contact with the outer surface of the ducts The head 2i@ is provided in the axial center thereof with an annular opening 5i which is normally closed by a closure plate er having a raobet engaging within the opening 5d. The interior of the boiler it may be cooled, so that ng through tl e ducts 33 may also be cooled by suspending a coo-ling unit ed from the closure plate 5?.. The cooling unit may be connected to a suitable refrigerator mechanism, and preferably the cooling unit 54 is suspended from the plate 52 by pipes 55 and 56 which are adapted to be connected to the cooling system of the refrigerator unit.

In the use and operation of this device the water in the boiler lil is preferably disposed at the water level designated by the numeral 2l. The Water is heated by the burner Il and as soon as the water becomes heated to the desired degree, the fan motor dit may be operated so as to force cool air through the air ducts 33. This cool air will be heated in the passing through the air ducts 33, and will be discharged into the outlet nipple 46 from which point the heated air may be conducted by means of the pipe 4l to the desired point.

With a construction of this kind the Water in the boiler lil may be heated to a predetermined degree by means of the burner Il, and when this predetermined temperature of the water has been attained, the burner Il may be cut ofi". In View of the fact that the hot Water will dissipate its heat for a considerable period after the burner il' has been cut off, the fan motor lfl may be continued in operation until the water drops to a predetermined low temperature whereupon the burner i? may be again operated.

there the construction hereinberore described is used as a cooler with ice disposed within the boiler iii and about the shield (it, the water in the boiler iii may be maintained at a predetermined level by means of an overflow outlet pipe which is disposed in a vertical position Within 'the inner boiler' member il, and which is secured within the bottom i4 by fastening members lit. A discharge valve @il is connected to an extension pipe t@ which is connected to the lower end of the overflow pipe 5l.

The heat-iinT unit comprising the head 2li, the air ducts S3 and the shield F23 may be constructed as a separable unit, so that this heating unit may be placed in any desired container for either heating or cooling the air passing through the ducts The provision of the protecting shield id about the air ducts will provide a means whereby the air ducts will be properly protected during the shipment or the heating unit, and also the placement of the unit within the boiler iii. In addition, the shield @i3 will also protect the air ducts 223 when ice or the like is placed within the container or boiler l In order to provide a means whereby the flow of air through the outlet nipple d5 may be regulated, a perforated damper tl is mounted on a manually operable shaft 52 positioned above the nipple Alti. This perforated damper also provides a means for iiltering the air discharging from the air ducts 33.

What I claim is:

l. An air conditioning unit comprising an open top water container, a covering for said container, means for securing said cover to said container, said cover having a pair of radially opposed series of openings therethrough, funnelshaped members secured at their larger ends in said openings and depending therefrom, a series oi parallel U-tubes in said container, each having its opposite ends split and frictionally engaging in the smaller ends of said funnel-shaped members, a pair of upstanding collar flanges on the upper side of said cover each surrounding one oi" said series of openings, an inlet pipe secured to one oi said flanges, means in said inlet pipe for forcing air through said U-tubes, an outlet pipe secured to the other of said flanges, means in said outlet pipe for ltering air passing funnel-shaped members secured at their largerv ends in said openings and depending therefrom,

a series of parallel U-tubes in said container,v

each having its opposite ends split and frictionally engaging in the smaller ends of said funnelshaped members, a pair of upstanding collar flanges on the upper side of said cover each surrounding one of said series of openings, an inlet pipe secured to one of said flanges, an outlet pipe secured to the other of said flanges, means for forcing air through said U-tubes, and heat eX- change means for varying the temperature of the water in said container whereby the ternperature of said air is varied.

3. An air conditioning unit comprising, an open top water container, a cover for said container, means for securing said cover to said container, said cover having a pair of radially opposed series of openings therethrough, funnelshaped members secured at their larger ends in said openings and depending therefrom, a series of parallel U-tubes in said container each having its opposed ends split and frictio-nally engaging in the smaller ends of said funnel-shaped members, an inlet pipe connected to one of said series of openings in said cover, an outlet pipe secured to the other of said series of openings in said cover, and heat exchange means for varying the temperature of Water in said co-ntainer whereby the temperature of said air is Varied.

4. An air conditioning unit comprising, an open top Water container, a cover for said container, means for securing said cover to said container, said cover having a pair of radially opposed series of openings therethrough, funnel-shaped members secured at their larger ends in said openings and depending therefrom, a series of parallel U-tubes, in said container each having its opposite ends split and frictionally engaging in the smaller ends of said funnel-shaped members, means for forcing air through said U-tubes, and

heat exchange means for varying the temperature of the water in said container whereby the temperature of said air is varied.

5. In an air conditioning unit of the type including an open top Water container and heat exchange means for varying the temperature of the water in said container; an air conditioning unit comprising, a cover removably secured to the top of said container, a pair of radially opposed upstanding collar ilanges secured to the upper side of said cover, a series of openings through said cover internally of each of said flanges, funnel-shaped members secured at their larger ends in said openingsand depending therefrom, and a series of air conditioning U- tubes in said container, each having its opposite ends split and frictionally engaging in the smaller ends of said funnel-shaped members.

. TRIFON VASSILIOU. 

